News

ITV's new finance director Ian Griffiths wasted no time opening his account with the broadcaster, spending nearly £50,000 on shares today.

He bought 100,000 shares, paying 47.2p a time.

Shares in ITV jumped Tuesday after it announced that it had tempted Griffiths away from the magazine publisher Emap, and continued their strong run Wednesday.

Griffiths started his career with Ernst & Young, where he worked in the corporate finance team before joining Emap. He held senior positions at Emap, including group finance director, from 2005 until 2008.

"We are very pleased to have recruited such a respected and experienced candidate as Finance Director. He will be a key member of our executive team, working to deliver our plans for improving financial performance," said ITV chief executive officer John Cresswell.

The recent rally in ITV's share price came too late to save the company from relegation to the FTSE 250 though. Shares in the broadcaster have fallen sharply since about the beginning of June.
Top Director Buys

DCD Media (DCD)
Director name: Mr David Elstein
Amount purchased: 700,000 @ 24.00p
Value: £168,000

OPD Group (OPD)
Director name: Mr Peter Hearn
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 130.00p
Value: £130,000

ITV (ITV)
Director name: Mr Ian Griffiths
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 47.20p
Value: £47,200

Mano River Resources (MANA)
Director name: Mr Malcolm Burne
Amount purchased: 500,000 @ 7.30p
Value: £36,500

Dawson Holdings (DWN)
Director name: Mr Peter Harris
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 62.50p
Value: £31,250

Xploite (XPT)
Director name: Mr Richard Ramsay
Amount purchased: 70,000 @ 42.50p
Value: £29,750
Top Director Sells

Cadbury (CBRY)
Director name: Mr Robert J Stack
Amount sold: 224,425 @ 667.00p
Value: £1,496,915

Cadbury (CBRY)
Director name: Mr Robert J Stack
Amount sold: 100,000 @ 668.00p
Value: £668,000

General Electric (GEC)
Director name: Mr John G. Rice
Amount sold: 7,801 @ € 19.92
Value: € 155,396

General Electric (GEC)
Director name: Mr Michael A. Neal
Amount sold: 7,600 @ € 19.92
Value: € 151,392

General Electric (GEC)
Director name: Mr Pamela Daley
Amount sold: 1,944 @ € 19.92
Value: € 38,724

General Electric (GEC)
Director name: Ms Kathryn Cassidy
Amount sold: 968 @ € 19.92
Value: € 19,283